After a concerning slump in form, Aston Villa returned to winning ways against Brentford in midweek in a crucial result for Unai Emery and the players.
Having gone eight games without a win across all competitions prior to Wednesday night’s encounter with Thomas Frank’s side, frustration and disappointment was building over both our performances and results in recent weeks.
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With back-to-back home games in the Premier League, this was seen as a pivotal week in our season, and with Southampton to come on Saturday, this was an important first step in putting that poor run behind us.
Goals from Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and Matty Cash sealed all three points for Villa, and there were certainly positives to take from this display to hopefully build on.
Hugely important win to end poor form
There was a sense that it didn’t really matter how we won on Wednesday night, it was fundamental that we just found a way to get the job done. Anything on top of that would be a bonus.
Well, not only did we get the win that we have been craving for weeks to hopefully spark some confidence and momentum, but the performance in the first half was exactly what was needed to get us going again.
With a busy schedule coming up, this was a critical game to get the ball rolling, put the negativity behind us and start looking up the table again. Hopefully, this win will do that, but we must follow up on it this weekend.
Mings colossal on return to Villa defence
Emery opted to make an important change at the back with Tyrone Mings coming in for Pau Torres, and it proved to be a vital switch as the Villa centre-half put in a commanding display as he was integral to our strong defensive effort.
Mings made countless headers to clear danger and had one crucial clearance where Brentford were really threatening, and having combined that with a tidy performance in possession, he added much-needed solidity and stability to our backline.
Both he and Pau will play key roles this season, and Emery again hinted after the game that they could play together, but this was a Man of the Match shift from the Villa stalwart, in his first league start in well over a year after injury.
Premier League clean sheet continues to be elusive
Albeit the win was the most important factor, it was still frustrating that we couldn’t keep a clean sheet as only Brentford have a worse defensive record than us out of the top 13 sides in the standings.
We have to tighten up and start shutting opponents out to really make consistent progress, but in fairness, there was absolutely an improvement defensively in this game as we looked to have a more solid structure and removed errors from our performance.
This was a step in the right direction compared to what we’ve seen in previous weeks as we’ve looked vulnerable and exposed at the back. Emiliano Martinez and Co. though, will be desperate to get that elusive clean sheet on Saturday against Southampton.
More ruthless Villa still needed
Although we had a dip in the second half, we managed to steady ourselves and see out the win in the latter stages, but it could have been much better had we been more clinical.
Having scored three goals in the game, it’s hard to be too critical of Villa’s attacking display as we played with fluidity, rhythm and tempo in a return to our better form in the final third, but there were chances to make this more comfortable.
That will be an area for improvement still, as moving forward, if we’re ruthless against sides and convert big chances more consistently, we’ll be in a much healthier position in the table.
Positive signs to take into Southampton game
As noted above, there were certainly positives to take from this game heading into the weekend when we host Southampton, and given they’re struggling at the foot of the standings, it’s a big opportunity to start stringing wins together.
As emphasised by Watkins in his post-game interview though, there will be no room for complacency as we can quickly encounter problems if we’re not switched on and at our best, but after this performance, there will hopefully be less pressure and more confidence amongst the group.
That could be seen in our display as the first half went on, as the players looked to be playing with more freedom and belief as we cut through Brentford consistently and looked stronger defensively, and so hopefully this will be the catalyst to get our campaign going again.